Tributes paid to disability campaigner David Morris

Tributes have been paid to disability campaigner and London mayoral advisor David Morris, who has died aged 51.

Tributes have been paid to disability campaigner and London mayoral advisor David Morris, who has died aged 51.

Morris, who died last Sunday (18 April), was a prominent advocate for all disabled Londoners and was well-known for his commitment towards independent living.

He worked over a number of years in the disability rights movement in the UK and in 1989 founded Independent Living Alternatives to support disabled people employing personal assistants.

He joined the Greater London Authority in 2002 where he worked in the equalities team before becoming senior policy adviser on disability to the Mayor.

Since last year he had been on secondment to the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) as external access and inclusion co-ordinator.

Liz Sayce, speaking on behalf of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s disability committee, said the human rights movement had lost a “hero”.

She said Morris “personally deserves much credit” for his campaign for social care service users to be able to retain eligibility for services when they crossed local authority boundaries, a policy adopted in last month’s care White Paper.

A joint statement issued on behalf of both the GLA and LOCOG said that Morris had played a “key role in diversity and inclusion work” and he would be “remembered by all his colleagues at City Hall and LOCOG for the remarkable contribution he made”.

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